All Topics  
Spencer Gulf

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Spencer Gulf
 
 
  Topics Spencer Gulf Topic Home

The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost of two large inlets on the southern coast of Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, in the state of South Australia
South Australia

South Australia is a States and territories of Australia of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories....
, facing the Great Australian Bight
Great Australian Bight

File:Great Australian Bight map.pngThe Great Australian Bight is a large bight , or open bay located off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia....
. The Gulf is 322 km
Kilometre

The kilometre , symbol km is a Units of measurement of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres.Slang terms for kilometre include click and kay ....
 (200 mi
Mile

A mile is a Units of measurement of length, usually used to measure distance, in a number of different systems. In contemporary English contexts, mile most commonly refers to the statute mile of 5,280 Feet or the nautical mile of 1,852 meters ....
) long and 129 km (80 mi) wide at its mouth. The western shore of the Gulf is the Eyre Peninsula
Eyre Peninsula

Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded on the east by Spencer Gulf, the west by the Great Australian Bight, and the north by the Gawler Ranges....
, while the eastern side is the Yorke Peninsula
Yorke Peninsula

The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located north-west and west of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf Saint Vincent on the east....
, which separates it from the smaller Gulf St. Vincent
Gulf Saint Vincent

St Vincent's Gulf is a large inlet of water on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia. It is bordered by two peninsulas: the Yorke Peninsula to the west, and the Fleurieu Peninsula to the south east....
. The largest towns on the gulf are Whyalla
Whyalla, South Australia

Whyalla is the third most populous city in South Australia after Adelaide and Mount Gambier, South Australia. It is a seaport located on the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia....
, Port Pirie
Port Pirie, South Australia

Port Pirie is the sixth most populous city in South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier, South Australia, Whyalla, South Australia, Murray Bridge, South Australia and Port Augusta, South Australia....
, and Port Augusta. Among smaller towns on the gulf are Wallaroo
Wallaroo, South Australia

Wallaroo is a port town on the western side of Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. It is 160 kilometres north-northwest of Adelaide. It is one of the three Copper Triangle towns famed for their historic shared copper mining industry, and known together as "Little Cornwall"....
 and Port Broughton.

gulf was named Spencer's Gulph by explorer Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders

Captain Matthew Flinders, Royal Navy was one of the most successful navigators and cartography of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent....
 in 1802, after George John Spencer
George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer

George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer Order of the Garter Privy Council of the United Kingdom Royal Society Society of Antiquaries of London was an English British Whig Party politician....
, the 2nd Earl Spencer
Earl Spencer

Earl Spencer is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was created on 1 November 1765, along with the title Viscount Althorp, of Althorp in the County of Northamptonshire, for John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer, a great-grandson of the John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough....
, an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales, was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. Their sons, Princes Prince William of Wales and Prince Henry of Wales , are second and third Line of succession to the British throne of the British monarchy and fifteen other Commonwealth Realms....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Spencer Gulf'
Start a new discussion about 'Spencer Gulf'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost of two large inlets on the southern coast of Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, in the state of South Australia
South Australia

South Australia is a States and territories of Australia of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories....
, facing the Great Australian Bight
Great Australian Bight

File:Great Australian Bight map.pngThe Great Australian Bight is a large bight , or open bay located off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia....
. The Gulf is 322 km
Kilometre

The kilometre , symbol km is a Units of measurement of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres.Slang terms for kilometre include click and kay ....
 (200 mi
Mile

A mile is a Units of measurement of length, usually used to measure distance, in a number of different systems. In contemporary English contexts, mile most commonly refers to the statute mile of 5,280 Feet or the nautical mile of 1,852 meters ....
) long and 129 km (80 mi) wide at its mouth. The western shore of the Gulf is the Eyre Peninsula
Eyre Peninsula

Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded on the east by Spencer Gulf, the west by the Great Australian Bight, and the north by the Gawler Ranges....
, while the eastern side is the Yorke Peninsula
Yorke Peninsula

The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located north-west and west of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf Saint Vincent on the east....
, which separates it from the smaller Gulf St. Vincent
Gulf Saint Vincent

St Vincent's Gulf is a large inlet of water on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia. It is bordered by two peninsulas: the Yorke Peninsula to the west, and the Fleurieu Peninsula to the south east....
. The largest towns on the gulf are Whyalla
Whyalla, South Australia

Whyalla is the third most populous city in South Australia after Adelaide and Mount Gambier, South Australia. It is a seaport located on the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia....
, Port Pirie
Port Pirie, South Australia

Port Pirie is the sixth most populous city in South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier, South Australia, Whyalla, South Australia, Murray Bridge, South Australia and Port Augusta, South Australia....
, and Port Augusta. Among smaller towns on the gulf are Wallaroo
Wallaroo, South Australia

Wallaroo is a port town on the western side of Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. It is 160 kilometres north-northwest of Adelaide. It is one of the three Copper Triangle towns famed for their historic shared copper mining industry, and known together as "Little Cornwall"....
 and Port Broughton.

History

The gulf was named Spencer's Gulph by explorer Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders

Captain Matthew Flinders, Royal Navy was one of the most successful navigators and cartography of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent....
 in 1802, after George John Spencer
George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer

George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer Order of the Garter Privy Council of the United Kingdom Royal Society Society of Antiquaries of London was an English British Whig Party politician....
, the 2nd Earl Spencer
Earl Spencer

Earl Spencer is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was created on 1 November 1765, along with the title Viscount Althorp, of Althorp in the County of Northamptonshire, for John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer, a great-grandson of the John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough....
, an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales, was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. Their sons, Princes Prince William of Wales and Prince Henry of Wales , are second and third Line of succession to the British throne of the British monarchy and fifteen other Commonwealth Realms....
. Today "Spencer Gulf" is usual. The gulf was also named Golfe Bonaparte by Nicholas Baudin at roughly the same time as Flinders, but the name did not catch (others, like the Fleurieu Peninsula
Fleurieu Peninsula

The Fleurieu Peninsula is a picturesque peninsula located south of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia. It was named after the French explorer Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin as he mapped the south coast of Australia in 1802....
, did).

The area was first explored
Eyre's 1839 expeditions

Edward John Eyre's two expeditions of 1839 to the interior of South Australia were his first expeditions as an explorer, if one discounts the two earlier trips he made down the Murray River to Adelaide, herding cattle and then sheep....
 on land by Edward John Eyre
Edward John Eyre

Edward John Eyre was an England land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, and a controversial Governor of Jamaica.South Australia's Lake Eyre, Eyre Peninsula, Eyre Creek, South Australia, Eyre Highway , and the Eyre Hotel in Whyalla are named in his honour, as are the villages of Eyreton and West Eyreton in Canterb...
 in 1839 and 1840-41. Settlement of the shores of the Gulf began in the late 1840s.

Wildlife

Spencer Gulf, in particular a certain section of it north of Whyalla, is known as a breeding ground of Australian Giant Cuttlefish
Australian Giant Cuttlefish

The Australian Giant Cuttlefish, Sepia apama, is the world's largest cuttlefish species, growing to 50 cm in mantle length and over 10.5 kilogram in weight....
. They are a favorite food of local dolphins, who have developed a sophisticated techniques for safely eating those creatures.

The upper Spencer Gulf is also known for its snapper
Australasian snapper

The Australasian snapper or squirefish, Pagrus auratus is a species of porgie found in coastal waters of New Zealand and southern Australia....
 fishing.